Mississippi's Movement to Better Health: Participatory Problem Solving to Address Long-term Health Disparities

The Delta region of Mississippi, an area with high poverty and low educational attainment, faces some of the greatest health challenges in the nation, including high rates of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and asthma. Low population density coupled with a healthcare provider shortage, create substantial challenges in accessing healthcare.

To address these problems, the New Pathways to Health initiative was formed, and has evolved over 10 years. A collaborative partnership between a community health center, two workforce development organizations, a university research center, and a global health foundation, the New Pathways program provides hands-on training for youth from five Delta counties interested in pursuing careers in healthcare and improving the health of their communities. Through educational workshops, mentorship, job shadowing, and community projects, New Pathways aims to connect aspirations to opportunities.

Through Problem Solving for Better Health®, a participatory process that uses community strengths, resources, and motivations to create and implement projects to improve local health outcomes, 60 middle and high school students in the Delta worked together to develop a fitness summer camp with 160 participants, a youth-run school health council, a healthy cookbook, and organized a community picnic to promote healthy behaviors attended by over 400 local residents. Three of these programs are now rooted in the community with plans for expansion. The New Pathways program suggests that participatory problem solving and youth empowerment can address challenges in an area plagued by long-term health disparities.